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Friday, October 9, 2015

Paper Towns by John Green

Paper TownsAuthor: John GreenPublisher: SpeakPublication Date: September 22, 2009GoodreadsAmazonReview:
I’ve avoided John Green for a while now. I wasn’t a huge fan of Looking For Alaska and The Fault in Our Stars made me cry so I’ve always thought of John Green books in terms of either loving or hating. There was no in between. For me, Paper Towns was in between. I enjoyed the novel but I didn’t love it.

Paper Towns follows High School senior Quentin “Q” Jacobson who has had a crush on Margo Roth Spiegleman since childhood. After a whirlwind night of pranks and debauchery Margo disappears and Q begins his search for her believing she left behind clues for him.

I really liked Q he wasn’t the popular kid or a total loser. He was somewhere in between and I liked this about him. He is the kind of person you can connect to. I also really enjoyed his witty dialogue, especially with his friends.

This wouldn’t be a John Green novel though if I didn’t remark on the writing. I like the way John Green puts words together but it comes off sounding not at all like actual teenagers actually sound. It sounds like John Green writing for teenagers which is something completely different. Still, his novels shine in terms of depth of voice.

Overall, I enjoyed Paper Towns. It was an interesting story from start to finish but I didn’t love it. It was a solid middle of the road read and the first John Green novel I’ve read that I didn’t have intense feelings for. We’ll see if my feelings for his work change as I actively try and read more of his novels this next year.